Sometimes Special
by KayleeRoo
Summary: How do you stay true to yourself when you bring nothing to the table? No unique weapons, no mysterious past, no powerful hearts. The story of Kingdom Hearts 1 in the POV of Anai, an original character, and a good friend of Sora, Riku, and Kairi.
1. Character Description

Anai – KH OC

Height – 5'2"

Weight – 132 pounds

Eye color – hazel

Hair color – black

Overall – She has long black hair, hazel eyes, a small nose and a small smile.

About:

Anai is sassy and strong willed and absolutely not afraid to speak her mind. She's irritated easily and has no tolerance for BS. Despite that, she gets along well with her friends Sora, Kairi, and Riku (especially Riku).

Riku: she has a crush on him, and they hang out on their own a lot. They share the same passion to leave their small islands and go see the rest of the universe. Some nights they'll hang at each other's houses just talking for hours about the things they'd like to do and see, and anything else that comes to mind. She gets a little upset about his little crush on Kairi, but she mainly ignores it.

"Riku is one of my best friends! He's really smart, and I like picking his brain. Sometimes he thinks too much, but then one of us will make a joke and we'll laugh and laugh and laugh. I like when he pairs up with me to challenge Tidus and Wakka to a game of two-man blitzball. We usually lose because those guys practice all day, but it's still fun! Riku and I…we're a lot alike."

Sora: she and Sora honestly don't talk all that much on their own, but they get along well enough. Of course they see each other a lot because they hang out in their group. Sometimes they spar because Riku's too strong and always beats her, and Kairi is too weak and always loses to her. Sora gives her a good challenge and it goes back and forth with who wins.

"Sora's a really nice guy. He can be a little airheaded at times, so that kind of gets on my nerves, but other than that he's a lot of fun. It's entertaining to watch how competitive he is with Riku, but it's obvious that it's mainly for impressing Kairi."

Kairi: Anai…has her issues with Kairi that mostly stem from jealously. Despite that, she's not mean to the girl and still considers her to be a friend. Sometimes she and Kairi get away from the two boys and just hang out on their own, and when it's like that, Anai considers her to be a very good friend, but when she sees how Riku and Sora act around her, she starts to feel a little insecure.

"Kairi's a good friend and a good person, but I don't understand everyone's fascination with her. I mean, I guess it is mysterious how she's from another world, but that doesn't make her better than me. I'm better at sports, which means I can keep up with the boys better. But I guess none of that matters. It's fine, Kairi and I have fun in our own way. We get ice cream together sometimes after school, and sit on the beach together to eat it. It's nice."

Anai is athletic and enjoys sports and physical activity in general. She loves working with her hands so she was mainly the one who worked on the raft (she's still slightly irritated that all of her hard work was for nothing, she has a problem letting things go). If she were constantly on the go, playing new, different sports, and working to create new things with her bare hands, then she would always be happy. She and Riku are similar in the sense that they're both restless. He's restless in his heart and she's restless with her body.


	2. The Raft

Anai stood in the seaside shack, gazing out of the small window and onto the beach that was spread out before her. Sora was sleeping in the sand, and looked a bit restless, but Anai wasn't really looking at him. As she stared at the ocean, at how vast it seemed, she began to think. What was out there, just beyond the horizon? Was it another world? More water? There had to be more than just these islands, right? She had so many questions and no way to get answers, and that's what always caused her to get lost in her own head.

"Whoa!" she was pulled out of her thoughts by the sound of Sora shouting in surprise, and she glanced up to see that Kairi had woken him up. It was obvious, even from where she stood, how much Sora liked her. He was always a little goofier, a little more air headed, when Kairi was around, as if he didn't know exactly how to behave.

Kairi strolled past Sora to stand at the water's edge. It seemed to Anai that that was one of Kairi's favorite spots, a spot where she could think. And although she couldn't hear what they were talking about, Anai was willing to bet it had to do with Kairi's history. She could tell by the determined set of the girl's shoulders; determination to find her home.

"Hey!" she was once again pulled out of her thoughts by a familiar and welcome voice. Riku was making his way to the two on the beach, carrying a log in his arms. That was enough to get Anai to rush out of the shack door and towards the beach with the others.

"Aren't you guys forgetting about me?" she heard Riku say as she approached from behind. "So, I guess I'm the only one working on the raft." Riku tossed the log to Sora, who fell over into the sand.

"No way!" Anai cut in, getting everyone's attention. "I'm working hard too. In fact, I think I'm working the hardest of all. Much harder than Mr. Lazy Bones over there, taking naps on the beach," she said, poking fun at Sora.

Riku chuckled and made his way towards Kairi, causing something to stir in the pit of Anai's stomach. "And you're just as lazy as he is."

"So you noticed," the red haired girl giggled, playing with her hair. "Okay, we'll finish it together."

"Good idea," Anai stepped forward to stand next to Riku and Kairi. "We're almost done!"

Riku turned towards her and smiled. "Thanks to all your hard work."

His compliment caused her cheeks to go a little red, but, luckily, Kairi cut in before he could notice.

"I'll race you!" she giggled.

"Huh?" Sora exclaimed, still sitting in the sand.

"What, are you kidding?" Riku shook his head a bit.

"Another race?" Anai sighed, but a small smile played on her lips.

"Ready? Go!" Kairi shouted, jumping a little in her spot.

Sora, Riku, and Anai all glanced at each other for a brief moment before taking off from their spots with Riku in the lead and Sora and Anai closely behind. While Kairi lagged behind, Anai could tell by her continuous laughter that she was having just as much fun as the others.

-

"I have a list of supplies for everyone to get, does that sound okay?" Kairi asked her group of friends, who all nodded in agreement.

"Okay Riku, you need to find us bags to carry our belongings in, some big, some small. And some blankets, too," Riku nodded and took off as soon as he was given his task. "Anai, I need you to find life jackets, water shoes, and anything else you think we might need in case of an emergency."

"On it!" Anai nodded to her friend and took off across the beach, her eyes peeled for anything that might be useful. She knew she had a few life jackets in her room, so she rushed to grab those. Whenever she was given a task, she took joy in completing it to the best of her abilities. She was never a slacker, and felt that if she always put in her best in everything she did, her hard work would pay off.

As she made her way back with her arms full, she spotted Riku on the small island across from the shack and decided to go say hello.

"Hey Riku, what's up?" she called out as she approached him.

"Just…thinking," he said, glancing back at her as she came to stand by him.

"As always," she giggled. "Maybe it's time to give that big brain a rest."

"Maybe you're right," he chuckled, running a hand through his silver hair. "But I just can't stop wondering…what's out there? Will we ever make it away from this place? It gets…frustrating for me sometimes."

Anai nodded, because she knew exactly how he was feeling. They'd talked about it multiple times for hours on end, and they both had the same desire and thirst for travel and knowledge.

"Kairi's from another world…" Anai began, letting her head drop a bit. Riku nodded in agreement, this was common knowledge. "Is that why you're so fascinated with her? Because she's the only one that's been to another world?"

Riku's eyes snapped over to Anai, searching her face, and she instantly regretted saying anything. Before he could respond, however, the sound of someone running across the bridge interrupted him.

"Hey guys!" they both turned to see Sora running towards them. "Wanna battle?"

Anai knew he was really asking Riku, the two of them were always way too competitive with each other, so she turned and started heading back down the small island and towards the bridge.

"I have to turn my supplies in to Kairi, but you two go ahead," she smiled and nudged Sora with her arm as she passed him. "Go easy on him!"

"Never!" Sora laughed and jogged the rest of the way towards Riku.

Anai spotted Kairi as she heard Sora and Riku start to go at it, and she made her way down the stairs to turn her supplies in.

"So you found everything okay?" Kairi asked.

"Yep!"

"Great, thanks," the red haired girl tilted her head a bit. "This is really happening, isn't it?"

"Yeah…it is," Anai smiled at her friend. "We're going to see the universe."

"I can't wait!" Kairi giggled and jumped in her spot. Her excitement was infectious, one of the qualities that Anai suspected attracted their two other friends.

"Me neither," she smiled. "But for now, I'm going to head home."

"Okay! Meet me in this same spot tomorrow for the next, and probably last, list of supplies to collect," Kairi informed her, leaning in for a brief hug. "See you!"

Anai hugged her back before stepping away and heading in the direction of her house. They had a big day tomorrow, considering it should be the last time they needed to make any adjustments for the raft. She wanted to get to bed early, wake up early, and get a move on.

"Tomorrow," she mumbled to herself as she made her way back home. "Tomorrow is when it all begins."


	3. Anai's Heart

The sun had just begun setting when Anai heard a tap on her window. She sat up from her bed to see Riku peering in. Because they lived next door to each other, this was a common method of communication between the two. They could easily climb from one balcony to another, tap on the other's window, and hang out with them for a bit.

"We're gonna go watch the sunset," Riku said as Anai opened the window. "Wanna join?"

She glanced back at her bed. It was still early, and from the excitement inside of her she didn't think she'd be able to fall asleep early like she wanted to.

"Sure," she smiled and climbed out onto the balcony with her friend. "Let's go."

The two made their way across the bridge and onto the small island, taking spots on the tree trunk next to Kairi and Sora and gazing out at the setting sun.

"So," Sora began. "Kairi's home is out there somewhere, right?"

"Could be," Riku answered. "We'll never know by staying here."

"But how far could a raft take us?" Sora asked.

"Hey!" Anai cut in, nudging Sora with her arm. "We worked hard on that thing."

"I know, I know," Sora laughed, nudging her back.

"Who knows?" Riku interrupted them. "If we have to, we'll think of something else."

"So, suppose you get to another world," Kairi cut in, giggling. "What would you do there?"

"Well, I haven't really thought about it," Riku looked over at Kairi, a smile on his lips. The red haired girl smiled back at him, and Anai looked away from them both, staring out at the ocean.

"I would want to meet all the new people," Anai said, standing up on the trunk of the tree and pushing her black hair off of her shoulders. "And see the architecture."

"Boring," Sora laughed, and Kairi flicked him.

"It's just," Riku shook his head, seemingly ignoring the banter between Sora and Anai. "I've always wondered why we're here on this island. If there are any other worlds out there, why did we end up on this one? And suppose there are other worlds…then ours is just a little piece of something much greater. So we could have just as easily ended up somewhere else, right?"

Anai watched Riku's face carefully. He was in one of those moods where his mind just kept running and running, and she had noticed it earlier. The best thing to do was to just let his thoughts roam; to let him work out his own answers.

Sora sighed, pulling Anai from her thoughts, and moved into a laying position on the tree trunk. "I don't know."

"Exactly!" Riku stood from his spot against the tree. "That's why we need to go out there and find out. Just sitting here won't change a thing. It's the same old stuff. So let's go."

"You've been thinking a lot lately, haven't you?" Kairi leaned forward to look at Riku, her head tilting.

"He always does," Anai said, placing a hand on the silver haired boy's shoulder.

"Thanks to you," he said, ignoring Anai's words and turning towards Kairi. "If you hadn't come here, I probably would've never thought of any of this. Kairi, thanks."

"You're welcome," Kairi responded.

Anai rolled her eyes. She loved her friends, but they could romanticize things a bit sometimes, especially Riku. Over the last few months, when their talk of leaving the island became less of an idea and more of a reality, she'd started to develop feelings for Riku. They'd been there for a while, but she'd only recently allowed herself to explore them. Because of that, his crush on Kairi was beginning to wear on her a bit. But it was nobody's fault, and she could deal with it on her own.

"We should head back," she said to her friends, hopping off the tree and making her way across the bridge. "It's getting late."

She made it to the sand with Kairi close behind, and they both stopped and waited for the boys, who seemed to be tossing around a paopu fruit. When they finally made it to the sand, Sora and Kairi went in the direction of their houses while Riku and Anai went in the opposite direction towards their own.

"You know," Riku began after they'd walked a few minutes in silence. "If Kairi hadn't come to the island, I don't know what I'd be doing right now; what I'd be hoping for."

Anai sighed, a bit exasperated, and feeling a bit vulnerable. "Enough about Kairi, please, just for a few minutes."

"What do you mean?" Riku turned to face her, walking backwards in the direction of their houses. "Does this have to do with what you said earlier? About my 'fascination' with her?"

"Yeah," Anai stopped walking. "You _and_ Sora."

"Anai," Riku shook his head. "That's not true. We just want-"

"Back there, you practically thanked her for existing!" Anai heard her voice shake, but she held back her emotions. "How about thanking me? The raft was my idea, and I built most of it by myself. I know I'm not from some exciting other world, I know I'm not special, but a thank you would be nice."

She took off running past Riku, who didn't follow her and mostly just stood there looking a bit shocked. She knew that it wasn't about not getting any credit, and that she was pretty much just upset that Riku seemed to have a crush on Kairi but not on her, but there was no way she was going to admit that to him. She would apologize the next day for overreacting, she told herself, and then she would stop this little crush before it went too far.


End file.
